Shoe and process of making shoes.



K. s. GARA-MAGHDESIA N. SHOE AND PROCESS OF NIAKING'SHOES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 18. 19H- 1,26 1,802. Patented Apr. 9, 1918.

SHOE

menace.

shoes and in processes of; making shoes.

More particularly it relates to devices for improving the construction of shoe soles,

' and the attachment of the upper thereto.

The object of the invention is to reduce the cost and t0 improvb the flexibility ,of the finished product. These objects are accomplished by the introduction of certain supporting elements with the edge parts of t e upper, at the ball of the foot, andby the omission of the inner sole at that place. In a shoe made according to the invention all that part of the inner sole which customarily lies forward of the shank may be omitted. The lateral supports in the upper edges are applied soft, molded to desired form, hardened in place, and are used temporarily to hold the bottom edge of the upper stifi as an inner sole'does while the outer sole is being applied. The permanent holding is by the outer sole. These side supports are far less expensive than leather inner soles, because of their material, and they produce a shoe of greater flexibility, because of the absence of the inner sole at the place where the bending of the shoe mainly occurs in the act of walking. An ordinary shank extends forward from the heel-in the usual location of the inner sole, for about half of the total length of the shoe or a little 7 less. In the process of manufacture, the upper is provided at the heel with the usual counter, and at the toe with the usual tip or box stifiener, between the lining and the vamp. Two additional pieces of stifienin material are inserted between the lining an the vam one at each edge, extending lono'itudina 1y from the back of the tip to the forward end of the shank, and wide enou h transeversely so that when the shoe is on t e lastthey can each extend inward somewhat.

over the bottom, and upward a little at the side, forming an angle at the edge ofthej last. The various pieces ofstifiening ma? 1 terial havin been made temporarily pliable in the neat way, the shoe is is by as- Specification of Letters latent.

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'1 rnocnss or MAKING SHOES.

Patented Apr. h, 1918.

Application filed January 18, 1917. Serial no. 142,979.

curing the shank to the bottom of the last and lasting the upper thereto; and tackin the edges of the upper forward of the she directly to the last. After the stiffening material has become dry and stifi a ain, the tacks which secure the front part 0 the upper to the last are removed and the outer sole is cemented directly to the inturned edges of the upper, throughout its length,

the shape of the forward part of the upper being meanwhile preserved by the said stiffened material. When the cement has set, the upper and the outer sole are stitched together by the usual process. F or finish ing the interior, a linin is cemented over the bottom, and, as the orward end of-the shank was originally beveled, the shoe thus becomes smooth within.- a

An illustrative example of the working of the process and of the product follows,- in aid of which reference may be madeto the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a shoe embodying the invention, partly in section;

Fi 2 is a front elevation in section, of the s co in process of manufacture, showing the stage in which the upper andsole iire assembled and glued together on the Fig. 3 is a similar elevation of the shoe grompieted, in section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a detail, the reinforcing piece, before being bent into its angular shape;

. F1gs.'5 and 6 are views like Fig. 3 showinther embodiments.

it ferring to the drawings, 10 indicates the upper, 11 the counter, 12 the shank, and 13 the tipor box toe of a shoe. The outer sole is marked 14. The shoe has no inner sole in the usual sense of that word, except that the shank 12 constitutes an inner sole so far as it extends. This shank underlies the heel and instep of the foot in the completed shoe and has a beveled forward edge. In the process of making the shoe, the upper is prepared in the usual, way, with insertion of the stifi counter 11 between the upper leather 10 and its lining 15, and by insertion of the stifi tip 13 at the place where the box tee is to be, between the leather and the liningof the upper. A new step, characteristic of the invention, is taken when additional pieces 16 of stifiening material are inserted between side of the bottom. These are each long enough to extend from the forward end of the shank to the rear end of the tip 13, and are each wide enough to extend up a little way on the side of the foot between the upper and lining, and inward a little way from the side of the foot, with the inturned upper. The various pieces of stiffening material, the counter, tip and central supports are of material which is normally somewhat stifi', but which can be-made temporarily pliable, as by being moistened, and which stlfiens again upon returning to its normal condition of dryness. 'After insertion of the stifieners in the upper the shank mav be secured to the bottom of the last 17, and the upper lasted in the usual way, as far as the shank extends. The edgesof the forward part of the upper, beyond where the shank extends are tacked directly to the last, and are allowed to dry and to stiffen in the shape thus produced. Any necessary trimming is done at this time. The composite structure on the last by this means receives a shape which is sufiiciently secured as to all parts forward of the shank by the stiffened side supporting pieces 16, so that the shape is retained during such handling as is necessary in the further process of the shoe manufacture, until the application of the outer sole has given greater resisting power. For this step of the process it may be noted that the stid'ening pieces are angular in cross section so that the extent of the material in either direction from the angle where the piece is bent serves somewhat as a strut to prevent the bending of the angular shaped piece, just as either flange of a bar of angle iron preventsits bending. For this reason a relatively light and cheap stifi'ener 16, at each side of the sole, holds the inturned edges of the upper true to the shape that has been given them in the lasting operation. The heel and shank portions are held with the same security which has always heretofore been characteristic of a lasted shoerthe toe portion is held by the stiffened tip, which prevents spreading, and the intervening portion, 'where the supports 16 are, is held against a spreading because the forward end of each support 16 is close to the stitfly held rear of the tip, and the rear end of each support is close to the forward end of the shank where the upper is stifliy held by the lasting. Hence, both ends of the supports 16 being fixed by the adjacent attachment of the'upper to the tip and the shank, those ends can not move to distort the shoe; and as the supports themselveshave become stifi in their acquired shape, the leather interven-- ing betweenfltheir ends does not crinkle or I otherwise lose the shape given to it upon the tldh last; The outer sole may-then be cemented to theinturned edgespf the upper; and then, an thustporanly' held in pla e, may

mits McKay sewed shoes, which are typically menses be stitched to the upper; after which the shoe may be finished as is usual. As the inturned edges of the upper and the forward edge of the shank would be exposed to the wearers foot, it is preferred to cover them with a lining laid upon the sole in the interior of the shoe, thus making the inside of the shoe smooth.

The economy introduced into the processes of manufacture of shoes by this improvement results from the saving of. material hitherto employed in the inner sole forward of its shank portion. The material employed in the sidesupports 16 may be relatively inexpensive, consisting either of leather or preferably of fabric. For example, it may be such material as iscustomarily used for making box toe stifieners. Very little of that material is required. The completed shoe has a degree of flexibility in the sole which is enhanced by the absence of the customary inner sole in that part of the shoe where the bend comes at every step taken by the wearer. The new process of shoe manufacture thus described consequently has the advantage both of reducing the cost of construction of shoes, andparticularly of shoes 7 of the lower grade, and also of increasing the comfort of such .shoes. The latter permore stiff in their soles than other styles of shoes, to attain in a larger, degree the comfort which is characteristic of the more expensive shoes, and in fact to approximate that high degree of flexibility at the ball of the foot, where flexibility is most important, which hitherto has been characteristic only of turned shoes and other single soled shoes. While I have illustrated my invention as aplied to a shoe having a box toe it is not 1 imited to such shoes, as the side reinforcing strips may be caused to extend forward as far as their stifl'ening efiect may be required.

In the practice of the process under commercial conditions variations maybe made from the specific illustration here given, within the scope of the appended claims;

and it is intended that the patent shall cover,

by suitable expression in these claims, whatthe invention disclosed.

. Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate two difi erent embodiments of the invention, showing its ap plication to shoes having thicker soles. In each case there is in the sole an extra layer, which may be leather or other suitable material, below that marked 14 which is next to the upper. This is marked 14' and in Fig.

5 is attached by. causing the line ofstitchin which goes through the inturned edge of the upper to go through both. layers of the sole, as at 18. In Fig. 6, the extra layeris' attached by an extra line of. stitching 19, running around the outside andnot passing ough the upper, line of stit 118% ing 19 may also be used in addition to the line of stitching 18' as shown in Fig. 5.

I claim as my invention 1. A method of making shoes including the providing of an upper with flexible reinforcing strips along its edges at each side of the ball .of the foot; lasting the upper to a shank extending from the rear to and terminating at said reinforcements; molding said reinforcements and said upper around the corner of the last; holding and permitting the strips to stiifen in the molded shape; and then fastening an outer sole to the strips and to the upper.

2. A method of making shoes including the providing of an upper and means to make its toe and heel portions stiff and flexible reinforcing strips along its edges at each side of the ball of the foot; lasting the upper to a shank extending from the rear to and terminating at said reinforcements; molding said reinforcements and said upper around the cornerof the last; fastening them temporarily in the molded shape; per-' mitting the strips to stiffen in the shape in which they are thus held; cementing an outer sole to the upper while on the last; and then stitching the outer sole thereto and to the strips while the edges of the upper are held by the cement.

3. A shoe comprising an upper, a shank in the position customarily occupied by the rear part of an inner sole, and an outer sole; the rear portion of the upper being lasted to said shank, and the forward portion of the upper having edges fastened directl to the outer sole; said edges containing sti e ing supports on both sides of'the ball of the foot, and said supports being angular in crosssection, with their inturned portions extending only along the edges of the sole.

4. A shoe comprising an upper, a shank in the position customarily occupied by the rear part of an inner sole, and an outer sole; the heel portion of the upper having stiifening material and being lasted to said shank, and the toe portion of the upper having stiifening material with edges fastened directly to the outer sole; and the intervening portion of the upper having stifie'nin material at its edges; said intervening sti ening material being angular in cross-section, with its inturned portion extending only along the edges of the sole.

Signed by me at Boston, Mass, this ninth.

day of December, 1916.

' I KRIKOR. s. GAR Witnesses:

Evmm'rr S. KENT, IAMALIEL M. YACUBIAN. 

